Here’s how this segment works:
I’ll listen to as many albums as possible throughout the week, break down buzz worthy choices and then stamp them with either; Unripe (intriguing), Ripening (gratifying) or Ripe (choice of the week).
Albums I listened to that I didn’t feel warranted a discussion:
- About Group – Between The Walls
- AraabMuzik – The Remixes, Vol. 1
- Deap Vally – Sistrionix
- Editors – The Weight Of Your Love
- Goldheart Assembly – Long Distance Song Effects
- Mavis Staples – One True Vine
- Nate Young – Blinding Confusion
- Phaeleh – Jungle Revolution
- Pretty Lights – A Color Map Of The Sun
- The-Drum – Contact
- The Duckworth Lewis Method – Sticky Wickets
- Treetop Flyers – The Mountain Moves
Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels
- Released : June 26th, 2013
- For Fans of: El-P , Killer Mike or Aesop Rock .
- The Harvest: Unripe
A couple days ago I caught a tweet by one half of the duo El-P saying “ Think me and Mike might have to keep doing this Run The Jewels thing ”. It occurred to me that the blasé nature of this statement reveals a lot about the underwhelming production on the new album. Despite the impressive reviews, El-P seems to infer that compared to his and Killer Mike ‘s own albums last year, this a peripheral project perhaps lacking the same creative passion.
The album does fly out of the gates with the same level of energy and quality as Cancer 4 Cure on the opening title track ‘ Run The Jewels ’ with his signature progressive hip-hop beat and his close comradery with Killer Mike evident. Big Boi continues the high octane energy on ‘ Banana Clipper ’ with burning lines such as “ Went to Vegas, jumped a broom cause I wasn’t trippin’ on papers Or no prenuptual agreement for mama if we broke up and she took half, I’ll still be sitting on commas, Eight figures nigga ”. The slick verses are endless and you can tell the two have gone into this project with plenty of lyrical content; unfortunately the background arrangements just aren’t there.
Where El-P would typically throw multiple layers at you on previous tracks such as ‘ The Full Retard ’ or Killer Mikes ‘ Southern Fried ’, tracks such as ‘ 36” Chain ’ and ‘ DDFH ’ sound as if half the production is muted, with no real attention to detail. If not the production, then it’s the chorus’s brief messages that don’t stick on tracks ‘ Sea Legs ’ or ‘ Job Well Done ’. The the ideas sound rushed on ‘ No Come Down ’ with a lumbering beat and a chorus that goes like this “ I get so hi-hi-hi-high, I close my eye-eye-eye-eyes, Like I may die-die-die-die, and I won’t come down ”.
Despite being project that was meant to be quick and fun, the album does tale off in a negative direction. I expect them to focus more on the production for the already promised sequel album. The duo – who bounce off each other like brothers – could easily cement themselves right at the top of current hip-hop teammates if they deliver second time round.
Daughn Gibson – Me Moan
- Released : July 9th, 2013
- For Fans of: Matthew Dear , John Maus or Alt-Country .
- The Harvest: Unripe
When I witnessed Daughn Gibson perform last October, it was an unusual sight to see a tall, lumberjack-looking man wearing a dirty flannel, messing around with alt-country electronic sounds via his laptop. A reminder than Gorilla vs Bear has readers in Pennsylvania.
His progression in general is unusual, from being the drummer of Pearls and Brass that featured Pissed Jeans bass player Randy Huth playing heavy stoner metal through to the sweet light hearted melodies that are frequent throughout Me Moan . The most unusual and distinct feature however, is his deep musky voice. Whilst memorable and effective at times, unfortunately it more often than not distracts you from several catchy melodies lying underneath.
For example, the bagpipes hook of ‘ Mad Ocean ’ is wasted by his overbearing accent like too much pepper added to a tasty meal, and ‘ Kissin’ On The Blacktop ’ begins with an interesting drum machine arrangement, only to turn into a country mans outing to a karaoke bar. When he strips back the arrangements on ‘ You Don’t Fade ’, his lack of vocal versatility struggles to maintain interest and on ‘ Franco ’, the guitars are able to display far sadder emotions than his voice projects.
There are moments when his voice works to his advantage, in particularly the opening track ‘ The Sound Of Law ’ combines big drum rolls and his soaring low octave notes to dramatic effect. Another dramatic track is ‘ The Right Signs ’ with pulsating drums that conjure images of a tense western shootout.
What bodes well for Daughn Gibson moving forward are the small, sweet, optimistic moments that are buried within sections of straining vocal performances. The ‘ Phantom Rider ’ chorus sounds slightly off key but it progresses organically with its light piano melody and really opens up sonically from the bridge point onwards. ‘ All My Days Off ’ catches the meaning of its titles sentiment perfectly during it’s simple yet effective chorus. His talent is again evident when Gibson loosens up on ‘ Into The Sea ’ – think Joe Cocker covering Len ’s ‘ Steal My Sunshine ’.
Until he figures out what works and doesn’t work vocally, he should look to expand and trust his instrumentation sections; they aren’t as unique as his voice, but they’re considerably more reliant and pleasurable.
Jay-Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail
- Released : July 9th, 2013
- For Fans of: Kanye West , Nas or Rick Ross .
- The Harvest: Ripening
Jay-Z is a business man now and at times his lyrical themes appear only relatable to his millionaire clients rather than the average wage earner. Outside a couple of forced tracks for marketing value featuring Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé , however, when it’s just Jay-Z and Timbaland ’s production, Magna Carta Holy Grail is surprisingly poetic and a reminder that Jay-Z is a natural rapper.
The opening sequence displays Jay-Z at his most obnoxious displayed in ‘ Holy Grail ’s blasphemous use of ‘ Smell Like Teen Spirit ’ lyrics, the cheap “ Ughs ” used all over the verses and chorus, and the cringe worthy Justin Timberlake section. Then there’s ‘ Picasso Baby ‘s ’ weak chorus “ Ca ca ca Picasso Baby, Ca ca ca Picasso baby Oh what a feeling ” where he goes on to compare himself to Picasso of all people.
This can be forgiven when Jay rarely makes a questionable decision for the rest of the album apart from ‘ Part II (On The Run) ’ that’s a less distinctive version of his previous ‘ 03 Bonnie & Clyde ’ with Beyoncé reducing herself to whaling diva pitch shifts. There’s ‘ Tom Ford ’ where Jay-Z hasn’t lost his comical common touch with the lyrics such as “ Spent all my Euros on tuxes and weird clothes – I party with weirdoes, yeah Hov, yeah Hov ”. Rick Ross adds genuine attitude on ‘ F*ckwithmeyouknowigotit ’. Frank Ocean continues his impressive streak as a natural collaborator with poetic lines such as “ I hope my black skin don’t dirt this white tuxedo ” on ‘ Oceans ’.
Then there’s the collection of tracks where Jay-Z gets in to a lyrical zone by himself with Timbaland and Jerome “J-Rock” Harmon running the production on ‘ F.U.T.W. ’, ‘ Somewhereinamerica ’, ‘ Crown ’, ‘ Jay-Z Blue ’, ‘ La Familia ’ and ‘ Heaven ’ where he not only has fun with his fans on the line “ Conspiracy theorist screaming Illuminati – They can’t believe this much skill is in the human body – He’s 6’2, how the f*ck he fit in a new Bugatti? – Aw f*ck it you got me” , but his Gonjasufi low-fi production influence is refreshing and he goes on to actually use a Gonjasufi sample on the albums most successfully ambitious track ‘ Nickels And Dimes ’.
There’s not going to be a ‘ 99 Problems ’ or ‘ Empire State Of Mind ’ type of hit single, but M.C.H.G. for the most part is Jay-Z’s most consistent album in a while, placing itself slightly above The Black Album , slightly below American Gangster .
Kirin J Callinan – Embracism
- Released : July 2nd, 2013
- For Fans of: Nine Inch Nails , Kele or Future Islands .
- The Harvest: Ripe
Before listening to Kirin J Callinan ‘s debut album, it’s hard for a pre-conceived impression not to be negative due to a series of controversies that he brought upon himself (willingly). It gave the impression that he was just one big publicity stunt, but it turns out when the dust settled, his paranoid and twisted song writing is fascinating and leaves you curiously wanting more.
After ‘ Halo ’ standardly opens up the proceedings, ‘ Embracism ’ grabs the reigns and tackles the issues of “ macho competitiveness that exists in spades in Australia ” head-on with a combination of influences ranging from Nick Cave to Nine Inch Nails . He doesn’t leave any emotion behind as he leaps into ‘ Come On USA ’ that vents his concern for “ the overbearing & insatiable sexual appetite of US culture ”. This tension plays directly into ‘ Victoria M. ’ which switches from concerned spoken words to singing about romanticism with a beautiful shoe-gaze melody.
‘ Scraps ’ recalls another lead singer who turned paranoid over the years in Kele , especially on Bloc Party ’s second album A Weekend In The City . Backed by large drumming, ‘ Chardonnay Sean ’ contains a sprawling nostalgic chorus where he sings “ when we crashed your father’s car ”. ‘ Stretch It Out ’ bounces the energy back up with a heavy electronic rave sounds. ‘ Way II War ’ builds, pulsates and drives furiously. As ‘ Landslide ’ progresses, it opens up with emphasised line “ God is in the water and hell is right here on Earth ”, that’s interesting because it can take on an array of meanings. ‘ Love Delay ’ fittingly pushes itself right to the end where Kirin is able to capture the same desperation level as Samuel T. Herring from Future Islands .
All this jumping around from influence to influence would typically sounds very messy, but Kirin isn’t trying to simply emulate his influences, he just happens to use them as vessels to carry his thoughts, that are not only thought-provoking, but cleverly constructed.
Recording the next album over a shorter time frame would definitely improve the albums overall identity from the one on Embracism . This is, however, actually one of the first albums all year where track for track I don’t have any significant concerns. After last month’s successful Jagwa Ma debut album, two previous members of The Valentinos (that changed their name to Lost Valentinos ) have now produced the two standout Australian debut albums so far this year.
WORDS BY Marcus Rimondini
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